What amounts to retreating his commitment to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during a campaign rally in Chhattisgarh on Saturday said that once Ram temple is built in his maternal state Chhattisgarh, it will also be constructed in Ayodhya.
Adityanath addressed a gathering in poll bound Chhattisgarh's Lormi where he said, "During my earlier visit I had said once Lord Ram's temple is constructed at his maternal residence, then it will certainly be built at his birthplace too. I would like to express my gratitude to the people of Raipur for constructing a grand Ram temple."
As per Indian mythology Ram has deep connect with Chhattisgarh as his mother Kaushalya was from Kaushal near Raipur and he himself spent 14 years in exile, while living in Dantkarni jungles now in Chhattisgarh. It is the same area where his wife Sita was abducted.
Adityanath further added that Chhattisgarh is Lord Ram's maternal homeland and today the matter of his 'janambhoomi' is sub-judice before the Supreme Court. "Congress leader Kapil Sibal had appealed to the Apex Court that the matter should not be taken up before 2019. One should ask the Congress if India is related to Lord Ram or is it associated with an outsider Babar," he said.
Further sharpening his attack on the Rahul Gandhi led party, UP CM Adityanath said: "Congress promoted Naxalism in this region for their own selfish motives. BJP government is taking strict measures to combat it which has become a threat to the people in this region. Congress toyed with national security for their political benefits."
The Chief Minister also claimed that the BJP's top priority is national security while the Congress did politics at the cost of national security. "Be it Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, north-eastern states or Kashmir, Congress did politics at the cost of national security. But for the BJP, national security is top priority. We have never tolerated any threat to national security. No one has the liberty to toy with national security."
Lauding the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Central government for eliminating terrorists from the Kashmir Valley and taking strict measures against anti-social and anti-national elements in areas like Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said: "There is hardly any day when two to four terrorists are not gunned down in Kashmir. Moreover, each day action is being taken against Naxals. They too are surrendering before our forces."
Claiming that the BJP has been tirelessly working for the rights and welfare of the poor, he said, "For the first time after independence a Prime Minister announced that by 2022 no poor in India will be without a house. Had there not been a BJP government at the Centre, the people in Chhattisgarh wouldn't have received the houses, which they are receiving now."
Chhattisgarh witnessed an intense political slugfest on Friday ahead of the first phase assembly poll due on November 12. The first phase of elections comprises 18 seats distributed in eight Naxal-affected districts of the state. Of these, 12 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes, while one is Scheduled Caste reserved seat.
The polling for remaining 72 seats will take place on November 20. The counting of votes will take place on December 11. A total of 1,291 candidates are in the fray for the two-phased state polls.
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